LeagueRepublic, which provides online administration systems for managing sports websites, fixture scheduling and results systems, has integrated Slepe Communications’ inbound SMS application into its system management software.
LeagueRepublic’s software has been used to manage over 2,000 professional and amateur sports leagues since 2002. Up until last year, all match information and results could only be updated via the web, so if team secretaries had no access to the internet or could not get a 3G signal, there was a delay in updarting the information.
In order to enable clubs to update their results more quickly, LeagueRepublic decided to upgrade its administration software by incorporating SMS functionality into its system at no extra cost to its customers. The upgrade means that results can be published within minutes of a game finishing. The service has been available for just over 12 months, and so far, more than 15 per cent of all UK leagues are using SMS to update their team’s results.
15 minutes after the start of a game, team secretaries receive a text from Slepe Communications’ administration software, reminding them to text in their result at the end of the match. As soon as the match is over, team secretaries simply text a reply to the original message with the final score.
The virtual numbers used to deliver the service are provided by Slepe Communications as part of the application. Its bespoke management software determines which results belong to which team using the virtual numbers, converts the SMS messages into HTML and delivers them directly to LeagueRepublic’s servers, where they can then be published immediately. 
Not only are results made available to the public almost instantly, there is also no charge to the end user for the reminder and the reply is the same cost as any standard UK text message and often falls within their contract package. Additionally, LeagueRepublic has signed a deal with Timpson Trophies, who will fund the SMS system, with a 10 per cent website discount code for Timpson’s included within the reminder message.
“When we decided to investigate the possibility of adding SMS to our system, we looked at many different providers,” says LeagueRepublic managing director, Dave Hathaway. “We finally chose Slepe because they were competitively priced and took time to listen and understand our exact requirements.”
Ranjit Singh, a landlord from Willenhall, who has been using LeagueRepublic’s software to manage his pool league for the last three years, decided to add the SMS functionality to his website at the end of last season. Now all 18 teams in the league update their results via SMS. He says: “It’s absolutely brilliant. When running a league like this, you have to be able to provide results quickly so you don’t lose the interest of the teams. The administrators text their results as soon as the game is over and once I’ve had a chance to check them, I make them live, usually within 24 hours.”
